jmc_bks

I missed SBD yesterday -- my apologies -- due to work getting in the way of my life.  And then after work, I went to the 9:30 Club to see Foxy Shazam, Patrick Stump and Panic at the Disco with my sister and some of her friends.  The "don't be creepy" speech from Zach (tour manager) was both entertaining and disturbing -- people really need to be told not to grope during the photo op?  Someone brought as a gift a pumpkin that had been carved with the band's logo, which made it up on stage.  The people watching was stellar, in part because there was a costume contest.  I especially liked the Venus Flytrap costume :)

Foxy Shazam, I don't really know what to think of them.  I liked their music but the lyrics were questionable (go listen to a clip of "I Like It" at iTunes.)  The lead singer was exhausting to watch, like an ADHD kid off his meds and on caffeine.  The trumpet player (in zebra striped lyric pants and a top hat) was bendy like Gumby and all over the place.

Patrick Stump -- okay, he's an adorkable kid and I just want to pat him on the head.  He came out in the red tuxedo and a headband with blinking red horns.  Opening medley:  Ghostbusters, Spotlight, Porcelain.  Loved his cover of In the Air Tonight, along with Run Dry and This City.  But apparently he had never seen how baking soda reacts to water?  Because he used it to paint his face white and then had to frantically rub at his face with a towel when he started to sweat and the liquid and powder reacted (ouch).  (I had no idea that it was a risk for Panic to take him on tour, but apparently not everyone is thrilled with his musical direction post-Fall Out Boy.)

Panic.  Okay, I'm not a huge fan although I do like their music.  We went to the meet & greet.  And they were all in costume.  Ian = girl in Kick Ass, including pink wig :)  Dallon as the lead singer of Foxy Shazam.  Spenser as Ron Burgundy (really not too different from regular gear?).  And Brendon as Jesus.  The Jesus bit was a theme for the evening from him.  Went up to the balcony rather than stake out a spot at the barricade with H's friends.  Good view, less crushed.  

In summary:  good times.  But I feel old:  didn't get home until 1am, and am dragging today.  When I was 21, 1am on Thursday night had no effect on me on Friday.

+  Posted over at WordPress for SBD.

+  Bought two Kindle books by Georgette Heyer.  Probably wouldn't have but for the anniversary sale ($1.99 each!).  Otherwise, I can respect her place in the development of the modern genre romance, but have not been impressed by the books I've read.  Regency trads aren't my thing for the most part, Carla Kelly being the notable exception.  And she seems to have left the subgenre behind.

-  Why is Cobra Starship touring with Bieber?  Granted, it's the South American leg of his tour, but still, I didn't realize they had a significant overlap of fans; I though CS's average fan was several years older.  Eh, whatever sells tickets, I guess.

-  Dear IT peeps: saying that I'm the SysAdmin for that system?  Fine.  But as a practical matter, I am only acting/holding the position until a new higher up is hired.  I have NO IDEA how to do what you want.  When I asked the retired person who used to do it, she said that task was explicitly given to IT.  I'm sorry the person responsible is on vacation in Montana during your critical testing period, but that doesn't make me any more able to do what you want.  No love, me.

~  Looking at the line up of authors who'll be attending the National Book Festival next month, there are very few (3 or 4) that I might be willing to wait in long lines to meet or have autograph books.  And genre fiction is extremely poorly represented, as usual.

~  The BIA essentially said last week that aliens in custody don't have to get the immigration equivalent of Miranda.  I...am not sure what I think about this.  And while I'm probably conflating a lot of things, I'm curious about how this works in conjunction with Padilla.

+  The grass at Wimbledon in the opening rounds is gorgeous, no brown patches yet.  I can't remember, did I ever post any of the photos I took when I visited last year?  Ironically, the tour stopped on Court 18 so we could see a court at eye level and touch the grass (no pulling) -- this was, of course, four months before the historic Isner/Mahut match.  (Which was a long match, but wouldn't necessarily be on my list of "great" matches.)  Fernando  managed to dig himself out of a hole and win in five against Radek Stepanek.  Sam Stosur seemed to have left her serve and her forehand and her entire game in Australia, and went out early.  Daveeeed won in straight sets.  \o/  

So...how was your Easter/Pascal weekend?

Mine was *fine*. I have no religion, so I didn't realize when I booked tickets to New York that it was a holiday weekend. Eh.

Good theater:

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. A good adaptation of the original film.

The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with the a Key to the Scriptures. Uh, this play really enjoyed showing how smart its characters were. It could use some editing IMO...although it's not as if I'm a learned theater critic, so what do I know? The story is centered around a Clinton family who gather to discuss their father's future: he wants to commit suicide, and has attempted it once before. All families are screwed up, and this one seems like a hot mess. Infidelity, money problems, mommy and daddy issues, etc. The cast is excellent and they give some amazing performances. The father was a little too much for me, and the introspection and angst could've been cut some, but still pretty good.

Avenue Q. Apparently we're all a little bit racist. And the Internet is for porn.

American Idiot. The final show. I think I've said before that I like Van Hughes' Johnny better than John Gallagher Jr's. The new Will's voice is stronger than Will Esper's, but he kind of freaked me out with his huge eyes and intensity, which didn't really suit stoner/loser Will's lackadaisical attitude. New Tunny's voice blended well with Van's. His tattoos were a little different too. And Gerard Canonico rocked the kettle drums in "Whatsername". And then. Then a Green Day concert broke out. They played for an hour, and all the cast joined them on stage, including most of the original cast who've already moved on. (Stark Sands, please lose the flannel; hipster fashion needs to let go of it.)

ETA:  how did I never notice Gerard Canonico and Alysha Humphress shotgunning during Jesus of Suburbia?  And I missed the old Favorite Son's pull ups as he slides out the window for his song, although the new Favorite Son's pec dance clearly pleased the crowd.  And Bust magazine was what Heather packed into her diaper bag during Too Much Too Soon?  Cool. And finally, I know what was written on all the pink flyers Whatsername tossed:  LOVE HAPPENED HERE.

Registration for #RWA11 opened today, and it seemed like everyone on my Twitter feed was registering and booking their hotel room or debating registering. I felt all D: because I'm not going. I don't actually care about the conference, per se: I'm not a writer or an aspiring writer so a lot of the workshops aren't relevant to me except in an academic sort of way; I don't need the free books -- given the size of my TBR, more free books would be ridiculous. But. But the people! So many people I "know" via Twitter or other online venues are going to be there! And I'm going to miss the opportunity to meet them!

Poking around, checking for new releases to buy or pre-order, I have not found much of interest. SEP has a new book out today that appears to be well-liked by the rom-reading community, but I stopped reading her several books ago, and even if I were inclined to give her a second or third chance, the price of the ebook is ridiculous. February doesn't seem to have many great offerings either: the exceptions are the new In Death book and Carla Kelly's inspirational (which I'm kind of ambivalent about). Jaci Burton's Play by Play will be out in early February, too, and it is one book that has been completely sold by the cover art. Call me shallow.

My reading slump seems to have accelerated. It's the 18th of the month and I've only read three books. Three!  The only thing that is remotely like a silver lining is that since I've read so little, it's been relatively easy to post about each book.

Erin Brockovich (of movie and class action fame) is now writing fiction? Legal(ish) suspense? Uh, okay. The curiosity factor might make me pick it up at the bookstore, but the hardback format would have me either skimming it in the store or waiting for a used copy from Paperbackswap.

The Biochemist broke my brain. Or caused me to break my brain, depending on how you look at it. We were exchanging emails about a potential fic for me to write when the conversation veered into the NYC pop/punk music scene of the late 90s. Ray Person + Gabriel Saporta = brain exploding.  Just the thought of the pair of them with their pimp shades...I can't even.

Dear Melissa Etheridge, I'd love to see you as St. Jimmy on Broadway during your one week run in February, but I don't think it'll happen due to scheduling issues.  This makes me very, very sad, because I think you'll rock the dissolute, seductive, threatening St. J. in a way that's completely different from Tony Vincent and Billie Joe Armstrong's presentations of the character.

The audience for American Idiot was very different compared to A Life in the Theatre. As The Biochemist said, blue haired in an entirely different way. Although the audience for ALitT wasn't actually that old -- I'd say average age was 30s, while AI was probably 20s. There was a sizable population of parents dragged to the show by teens.

Billie Joe Armstrong was playing the role of St. Jimmy for a week while Tony Vincent was away. I heard a couple people in the crowd wondering if he'd do all four weekend shows. Announced at beginning, very casually: btw, the role of St Jimmy, usually played by Tony Vincent, will be played by BJA today --> humongous roar.

Set design was excellent. I'm told that it may be derivative of Rent, but since I haven't seen that show, it seemed original and cool to me. Love the band on stage. The trapeze that was used in the opening, when the entire cast sang "American Idiot"? I couldn't figure out if/how it was going to be used, but it worked really well for Tunny's dream/delirium scene.

Stark Sands as Tunny, in uniform --> character confusion for me b/c uniformed Sands = Nate Fick in Generation Kill. TBC pointed out that Tunny is a very angry character (and Sands' body language conveys that pretty well), while Fick was frustrated rather than angry. Beyond the uniform, the very buttoned up polo at the beginning of the show contributed to my Tunny/Fick confusion, because Fick is a pretty buttoned downed character. Although, yes, Tunny seemed much angrier, or at least angry in an undirected way vs mad at the idiocy of command.

Was sitting orchestra right, so couldn't see BJA til he started down the stairs but could tell when he appeared because of the roar. He's smaller than he looks on tv and in photographs, skinnier, wirier. The squeals when he took off his shirt at the end were kind of surprising, TBH. His St. Jimmy was not as dark or imposing as Tony Vincent's looks (based on pics and reviews -- haven't seen his performance), it's more the devil on your shoulder, egging you on to things that are bad for you. Seductive, kind of.

The music. I liked the original American Idiot album, but I LOVE the cast recording of the show's soundtrack, which includes songs from AI and also 21st Century Breakdown. The choral sound appeals, especially "21 Guns". Which is weird, because I associate choral music with religious music, which I don't care for. The encore performance of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" with the entire cast singing and playing guitar was pretty cool.

Was it weird for BJA to be on stage and to sing but to *not* sing lead vocals on most of the songs, but to wait for St. Jimmy's parts?

Apparently, the cast usually hangs out after the show and signs autographs. I didn't hang around to find out. The crowd hanging around for BJA was ridiculous: literally, they blocked the exits from the theater, crowding the sidewalk, waiting for a chance to see him get into the waiting SUV. NYPD was there, forcing people to NOT stand in the street, which led to a complete blockage of the sidewalk to the point that people in the theater who just wanted out couldn't get out.

Anyway, I'd've gone to see it again while in town but for other tickets and plans. The other tickets were to Mamet's A Life in the Theatre with Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight. It's a two man show, a comedy, with multiple plays within the play, following the relationship of an older theater actor and a newcomer. Quite funny, although I was a little unthrilled with the casual misogyny of Robert in a couple of scenes. Biggest giggle for me: the barre scene in which Captain Picard works on stretches in first position while wearing black tights and purple leg warmers.

Figuring out what I really want to do/see on short trip to London. As Sir Walter Elliot says in the adaptation of Persuasion, I am for Bath. But what else am I doing? Overloaded with information from friends and colleagues. Go here, go there, you must do this or that! The variety of choices is paralyzing. [Rethink that -- noun is variety rather than choices, is it singular or a count noun? Think singular.] So I'm starting with something easier -- what am I taking to read on the flight? It has to be something I probably won't mind leaving behind in a "book crossing" sort of way. Probably I'll take a couple of the RWA books I haven't managed to try.

Unrelated: on Ace of Cakes tonight, I saw that Mary Alice (who rocks) has a WTF? stamp. Want. It would be extremely useful for work. The risk would be overuse, actually. :P

Also, Jack's Mannequin on TDS tonight? Very, very good IMO. Must download a copy of Swim from iTunes, along with Them Crooked Vultures.

The subject line of an item in my spam folder asked if my love stick was hard enough. I did not realize anyone used "love stick" other than the authors of 80s bodice rippers, but I suppose spammers need to be innovative...

~A while back I bought a copy of Alex Beecroft's False Colors; wasn't sure I wanted to spring for it at first, but was encouraged by Joan/SarahF's review.  It's been on the TBR ever since, but I pulled it off the pile the morning.  And what do I see this afternoon?  Bujold's thoughts (very general) about the book.  I'm not sure I agree that the story must've begun life as retooled Hornblower's slashfic, which seems a little dismissive.  Or maybe I'm reading that into her comment and being too touchy.

~(500) Days of Summer...as the narrator says, this is not a love story.  Well, it is, but it is a love story in the non-genre sense:  no HEA.  Loved the nature of the narrative, jumping around, and the surreality (is that a word) of certain scenes.  Thought Joseph Gordon-Levitt was very good, even singing drunken karaoke.  The only drawback for me:  the actress cast as Summer reminded me of the actress who played Jennifer Schecter in The L Word.  She's the TV character I despise the most, ever. (Which I think Ilene Chaiken intended.)  Zoe Deschanel's performance was fine, but I never got past the resemblance. 

~Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  SPOILERS FOLLOW.  If I had not read the books, I might've thought this was a fairly good summer movie.  In terms of the series, it left a great deal to be desired.  Where did the opening scene come from?  Are we finished with the Dursleys?  Burning down the Burrow?  Running around the marsh and country surrounding it?  No Bill and Fleur?  How is the set up of Deathly Hallows going to work:  their wedding played a fairly large role in the beginning of the book.  No battle at Hogwarts?  And that flat announcement at the end that Snape was the half blood prince?  And what is up with that bad dye job and weird hair cut for Snape?  Ron seems even less likeable in film than on the page, which is saying something because I like him a little less every time I reread the series.  But, oh, the Weasley twins as business men...

~I totally want to see Where the Wild Things Are and GIJoe.  And Julie & Julia (despite Amy Adams, who is too cute and perky and nasal to live).  Fame not so much.  And Sherlock Holmes...well, Mark Strong might get me to the theater, but it'll be a very hard sell since Jude Law makes my skin crawl with his smarm.

~The Academy Is... and Gym Class Heroes are at the Pier Six Pavilion on Monday.  Forgot to buy tickets, but there are still plenty, including the lawn, so I'm not worried about missing the show.

I have had that line stuck in my head for days.  It has alternated with "I don't care what you think as long as it's about me" and "Does your husband know the way that the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?" 

Curse you, Fall Out Boy. 

Gym Class Heroes will be playing with The Academy Is... at Pier Six on July 27th.  And The Cab will be at The 9:30 Club on the 28th.

And for a complete change in musical speed, George Strait is playing at Nissan Pavilion, a venue I don't care for.  But he's also playing at Reliant Stadium; I could arrange to visit The Biochemist about that time, couldn't I?  Hmmm.